James Brindley: Stab victim was on phone to girlfriend during fatal attack

The girlfriend of a man who was fatally stabbed wept as she told a jury they had broken up that day but were reconciling on the phone at the moment he was attacked.

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Flowers left at the scene after, inset, James Brindley was fatally stabbed

Lauren Wong had been dating fitness instructor James Brindley for a year at the time of his alleged murder as he walked home after meeting friends in Aldridge town centre, a court heard.

It is claimed Aaron Kahrod and a 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, stabbed the 26-year-old to death after a chance encounter in The Croft park just before midnight on June 23 last year.

Despite living in Manchester, Miss Wong described their relationship as ‘very serious’, so had not believed him when he had ended it earlier that day following ‘a few silly arguments’.

The pair had recently been on holiday to Barcelona and had met each other’s families. “We were inseparable,” she told Birmingham Crown Court today.

Calling him later that night, she said the tone of their conversation had initially been tense.